RVWA Partners with Girl Camper by RVWA Member Angel Swindell of Freelance by Starfish Services.
“When you love something, you want to let people in on it” is the type of positive message you would expect to hear from our June 12, 2020 RVWA Coffee, Lunch, and Learn guest, Janine Pettit. Who is Janine? She is a girl with a dream and founder of Girl Camper. We are very grateful to the New England RV Dealer Association for hosting our June conversations and for this opportunity to hear Janine’s amazing story.
Janine comes from a camping family and loves the lifestyle. Unfortunately, her husband is not a huge camping fan but is HER biggest fan and encouraged Janine to get her own set-up to go camping. Janine decided to launch out camping on her own and discovered that solo travel for a woman is not only possible but very enjoyable.
The more she camped, Janine noticed safety concerns, that RV camping for women is just “another skill set” to be learned, and that sharing tips with others was fun. Janine started writing a blog to help keep people safe. As interest grew in her posts, Janine naturally branched out into offering podcasts and speaking engagements. Girl Camper became not only an amazing group of women campers with more experienced Guides helping newbies, but a place to break down fears through education, bust myths, create new mindsets, show how camping lifestyle is financed, and improve skills. As her adventure continued, Janine’s dream began to grow.
With Camper Girl’s Facebook group of over 15,000 members, 85% of which actively engaged in the last 11 months, it is important for the RV Industry to understand that there is a substantial and growing number of women becoming Girl Campers and we are just scratching the surface. Janine would like for the Girl Camper demographic to be acknowledged, understood, and served better by the RV industry.
Naturally, some of Janine’s work as “Camper-In-Chief” of Girl Camper is promoting awareness that “there’s no wrong way to camp like a girl.” The RV Industry needs to step up and begin to actively realize that the solo woman traveler as a buying demographic. Sure, the retired couples and young families are still out there but Girl Campers are a quickly growing group . This “tribe within a tribe” has a broad range of interests from finding the right kayak, which glamping china to use, to the how-to of a DIY repair. Girl campers are not just part of a novelty movement because, simply put, those that love camping typically do not stop loving to camp. Janine built a successful business serving this demographic and there is room for more players and collaboration.
Girl Camper is partnering with RVWA on several initiatives including participation in upcoming expos and jamborees (details to come). Janine and experienced Guides at Girl Camper want to help women employed in the RV industry that have never camped to have that amazing experience for the first time (if for no other reason to better understand the market). RVWA wants to create networking connections and opportunities for the Girl Camper seeking a career in the RV industry. Expect to see both groups working in tandem as we promote women in the camping world.